This invention relates to a connector for connecting a small board with a memory module mounted thereon and, in particular, to a connector in which a small board is inserted into a housing to be faced to a contact and then rotated in a thickness direction to be connected to the contact.
A connector of the type is disclosed, for example, in Japanese patent No. 2757121. The connector disclosed therein is used to connect a small board with a memory module mounted thereon to a main board. The connector comprises an insulator housing and an electroconductive contact fixed to the housing. In order to connect the small board to the connector, a connecting operation is carried out in the following manner. At first, the small board is partially inserted into a coupling portion of the housing to be faced to the contact. Thereafter, the small board is rotated in a thickness direction around its part inserted into the housing so that a contacting point of the small board is pressed against the contact. Thus, the connecting operation of the small board and the contact is completed. In this state, the small board is engaged with the housing by the use of a latch to be prevented from being released therefrom.
With the connector of the type described, the small board can be inserted into the connector in a direction inclined with respect to the main board after the connector is attached to the main board With this structure, insertion of the small board is easy as compared with a connector of such a type that the small board is inserted in parallel to the main board. In addition, the connector can be designed assuming small friction upon insertion of the small board into the connector. Thus, the small board can be inserted with small force. Upon completion of the connecting operation, the small board is pressed against the contact under sufficiently large contacting force.
However, due to the variation in outer dimension of the small board and the variation in size of the coupling portion of the connector, a positioning error may possibly be caused between the contacting point of the small board and the contact of the connector when the small board is coupled to the connector. The positioning error will result in a contact failure and must be prevented.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a connector capable of automatically positioning a small board when it is inserted and thereafter rotating the small board to achieve electrical connection.
Other object of the present invention will become clear as the description proceeds.
According to this invention, there is provided a connector for connecting a small board with, after inserted into the connector in a first direction, the small board being rotated in a thickness direction around a part thereof which is inserted into the connector. The connector comprises an insulator housing for receiving therein the part of the small board in the first direction and an elastic member held by the housing and having elasticity in a second direction intersecting with the first and the thickness direction. The elastic member is engaged with the small board to position the small board in the second direction when the small board is received in the insulator housing. The connector further comprises an electroconductive contact held by the housing to face in the thickness direction the small board that is received in the insulator.